The Journal of the Hero of Kvatch
by Fira Wolf-Hunter
Summary: Praxenna can't remember why she ended up in that prison cell, or who she was before the Oblivion Crisis. All she knows is that danger lies ahead, and she's apparently the only one who can end it. The journal of my character's experiences in-game. NO SPOILERS IN THE COMMENTS. THIS IS MY FIRST RUN-THROUGH OF THE MAIN QUEST.
1. Chapter 1

28 Last Seed, 3E 433

Morning

I awaken this morning at an inn in the Imperial City, Cyrodiil. I have very little gold to my name, and no real memory to speak of. I know that I am an Imperial, and I know about the world around me to a degree. What I do not remember is how I came to be locked up in the Imperial Prison yesterday, nor why. I have found myself and my fate thrust into the hands of the Gods – or perhaps the Daedra.

Yesterday I awoke in a jail cell, only to be immediately verbally assaulted by an angry Elf. He told me I was to die in that prison cell, but it was not to be. Instead, the Emperor himself, as well as his personal bodyguards, came, inadvertently, to my rescue. They seemed upset that I occupied that particular cell, one of the guards (who later was killed) telling the others that my cell was supposed to be off limits. I soon found out why when I was told to stay out of the way as the guards opened a secret passageway in the wall.

Before I could even think to follow them to freedom, one of the guards told me to stay put. But then the Emperor came up to me and seemed to study me for a moment before telling me he had seen me in a dream. Who am I to disbelieve? I don't even remember who I am, although my fighting style would suggest I was once some kind of thief. A thief who uses no weapons, at that. I seem to know the exact places I need to hit people with my hands to kill and/or knock others unconscious. I'm not sure if I should be afraid of myself or not.

Regardless – the Emperor and I had a conversation that I hardly followed. He seemed to be speaking more to himself than to me, though I do remember him telling me that he believed I had been born under the sign of the Steed, based on my speed. I cannot disagree, as I do seem rather quick on my feet. We didn't get much time to chat, really, as the guards soon shuffled us along. They seemed oddly on edge and bothered, and I found out why soon enough.

Once we got through the first part of the tunnel, the Emperor and his guards and I went our separate ways for a while. They went through a door, telling me not to follow on their way. So I waited for them to leave and then went through the giant, convenient hole in the wall. I found corpses, weapons, and armor, along with some scatterings of food. This is when I found out that I don't like to use weapons, and instead prefer my fists. My knuckles are admittedly a little bruised, but I am satisfied. I also seem to be quite proficient in sneaking.

Anyways, soon enough the royal group and I happened to run into each other again. Not a second after rejoining the group, suddenly we were all attacked by assassins in red clothing, who wielded terrifying magic and weapons. The guards made short work of them, before I could even get a single punch in. After realizing that I was even there, one of the guards wanted to kill me, thinking I was working with the assassins. Then the Emperor stepped up to me, yet again, and stopped the guards in their tracks, telling them to back off.

He spoke then of destiny and the stars, and of his death, which was drawing nearer. I didn't really understand all that he said, but still, I listened intently. Something in his voice made me want to listen. He truly spoke with the voice of an Emperor – strong and clear and calm. It soothed my nerves from having been sneaking around attacking giant rats in the passageways.

We were shuffled along some more by the guards, and this seemed to take hours. It did take hours, and it took even longer than it would have because every now and then, assassins in red would come out of nowhere to kill us. I did get my chance at defending the Emperor, whom I had grown to respect and like over the course of those hours. I am sad that in the end, I could do nothing to prevent his death. I can say with conviction that he was a good man, though he seemed quite morose towards the end. The odd thing is, he seemed morose not about his own death, but about something he kept hidden away within himself. There was something so profoundly melancholy about him that I felt a sense of duty in the simple act of keeping him company, though we did not speak again for hours.

The last thing he said to me before he died was that he knew I had a grand destiny before me, though he knew nothing beyond that, and that I was to find my own way. Then he thrust his red amulet – the Amulet of Kings – into my hands and told me to take it to a man named Jauffre at Weynon Priory, near the city of Chorrol. Before I could ask any questions – why? who was Jauffre? where was Chorrol? – he was killed. Right in front of me. The last assassin came from seemingly nowhere. My vision turned to the left of the Emperor for but a moment, and in the next, I, myself, was being attacked by the same assassin who had just murdered that noble man, the Emperor.

So shocked was I that for a moment, I hardly reacted to the threat on my life. Then the assassin was dead by my hands and I stood staring at the floor, at the pool of blood and the body of the Emperor lying sprawled across it. His face looked oddly peaceful, and I knew then that he had known from the beginning that he was to die that day, in that moment. This knowledge gave me some sort of peace of my own, though my heart still aches for him. It is odd… I hardly knew the man, and yet I feel for him as if he had been my own father.

One of the guards – the only one left, actually – ran into the room, having just fought off the last of the assassins in the room ahead. He was as shocked as I, but immediately came back to his senses. He bent down to examine the Emperor's body and noticed that the Amulet of Kings was missing. He looked up at me and saw that I had it, and became suspicious. In a dead voice I explained to him all that the Emperor had told me. Baurus, the guard, seemed alright with my having the Amulet afterwards, though he was confused, as I was. In the end, he decided that I had better do as I had been told.

He handed me a key and told me to go through the sewers and out of the prison through a secret gate at the end. Then to head to Chorrol. I numbly continued onward, sneaking through more passageways for hours and collecting what little gold and potions I could find scattered around. I seem to have a knack for lockpicking as well. Night had reached Tamriel by the time I arrived outside, and I gratefully breathed in the cool air. The sewers had been quite disgusting, as one can imagine. I had no idea where I was for a few moments, and tried to look around for any sign of civilization. By chance, I turned around and saw a massive white tower nearby.

When I cleared around the prison, I saw that the tower sat inside of a giant walled city, and this is where I found food, rest, and shelter from the rain that had started soon after departing the prison. And this is where I am now, at an inn in the Imperial City, having just eaten some breakfast. I guess today I am off to Chorrol, though I may want to take a look around the city first and see if there is anything of use before heading onward.


	2. Chapter 2

29 Last Seed, 3E 433

Morning

Yesterday was quite busy for me, and I learned a lot. However, at the same time, I am now more confused than ever. In the morning I wandered town for an hour or two until I stumbled upon an armor shop. The lady who ran it did not have much to sell, though, which I thought was odd. Perhaps I had caught her right before a new shipment? Regardless, I bought myself a nice leather helmet to go with the rest of my leather armor.

After that, I followed the pathway through to the Talos District, where I admired a statue of, I presume, the Dragon God Akatosh, in all his glory. I didn't stay for long, however, as getting to the Priory was of the utmost importance. After passing through a graveyard, I made it to the other side of the city and left it behind. My journey to Weynon was rather uneventful for the most part. I was attacked by a wolf very early on, and then after that, it was almost dreary, what with the constant rain that lasted all day.

I came across a fort that took up the road, and decided to risk it and sneak through. It was rather small and rundown, and it ended up being occupied by a single highwayman, who took me completely by surprise. He was not in the fort proper, and appeared suddenly to the right of me as I exited the other side of the fort. He had been hiding himself, it seems, behind the outer wall, waiting for me to appear. He immediately demanded I pay him 100 gold. Normally I would have done so, and just been on my way, as I don't really want to trouble myself with bandits. However, I'm a little short on septims at the moment, so I told him no, and, of course, he attacked me.

The battle was actually quite difficult for me. He was carrying a large two-handed axe that, while easily dodged (because it swings so slowly), does hit very hard when it meets its mark. I had to backpedal plenty of times to heal myself, which was both frightening and frustrating. At one point, I was so desperate I ran away and chugged a healing potion. In the end, though, it wasn't I who killed the highwayman, but a giant rat! Would you believe that? And afterwards, I was perfectly willing to leave the rat alone, but the thing had other plans for me, it seems, as it immediately began attacking me the moment the Khajiit hit the ground. The rat I took out in just a few hits, and then I was on my way again after looting the highwayman, who didn't have much on him.

I was completely miserable at that point, trudging through the rain. Though, I couldn't help but notice that, had it not been raining, the trip would have been quite lovely. I can tell by the green of the forest how beautiful it is when the sun is shining, and I hope it is not raining outside right now, as that would just make me more miserable for the trip to come. But I am getting ahead of myself.

I happened to stop at a small inn on my way to the Priory for lunch, and had a nice conversation about wine with the barkeep. I bought some food and drink from her to cover the rest of my trip, and then I was off again, through the absolute downpour. Eventually, I found myself at the Priory and immediately went inside to see if I could find Jauffre. And find him I did. I explained myself as best I could, though it took some time. He was suspicious of me at first, especially when I told him that I was in possession of the Amulet of Kings, which I willingly handed over. He did come around to me, though, once I went through everything the Emperor had told me.

And then came the surprise. Jauffre urged me to go to the small town of Kvatch, to the shrine of Akatosh, to find Uriel Septim's illegitimate son, Martin. Yes, Emperor Uriel Septim apparently has another son. The other three, his legitimate sons, were all murdered yesterday, as well, or so I hear. Honestly, I'm not sure how the news traveled so quickly, as Baurus and I were the only ones left in the prison, and I didn't tell anyone anything when I left that place. Anyways, Jauffre offered me some assistance before I bedded down for the night, so now I finally have some leather greaves, as well. He told me I could sleep in their lodge, which, strangely enough, only has one bed in it. And this is where I am now, having just eaten breakfast. I need some more food, but that will be quickly remedied.

I am going to go back the same way I came, back to that inn I stayed at for lunch yesterday. There I will buy more food, and then follow the road down 'til I come to the fork I passed before, and this time go down the opposite path. Then I will follow that road past Skingrad to the small village of Kvatch, to find Martin Septim, Uriel Septim's illegitimate son. Tamriel needs an emperor, after all.


	3. Chapter 3

30 Last Seed, 3E 433

Morning

I made it to Skingrad by sundown yesterday, and, let me tell you, the journey here was quite harrowing. It rained most of the morning, and very early on in my journey, I came across a lone bandit. Dodging arrows is surprisingly easy once you get the zigzag motion down. It confuses the archer and puts off their aim. The bandit was easily dispatched, and I was about to be on my way, when suddenly, I felt teeth in my backside! I immediately turned and punched the wolf in the head, which dazed it, and made it easy to finish off.

Later on, towards afternoon, the weather finally cleared up, and oh! The forest is so lovely when it's not dark and cloudy and raining constantly. I could hear birds in the trees, and even saw a deer next to the road. She immediately ran when she saw me, but it was worth the small amount of time I had to admire her. Of course, not too soon after the weather broke, my luck with enemies seemed to go down the drain. First there was that black mage at some ruin I stumbled across. My luck did hold for a little bit with him, as he couldn't seem to find his way to me, and kept tripping over himself in his attempt to kill me. This gave me plenty of time to dodge whatever spells he threw at me as I ran over to him. Now, once we were in close quarters he almost got the better of me, but I quickly finished him off.

I didn't have any real trouble until I started running into the hordes and hordes of imps on the road near Skingrad. And fighting hand-to-hand means you have to get up close and personal with whatever you're fighting. I had a hard time dodging their spells, too, which means I wasted a lot of my time casting healing magic on myself. Finally, though, I took them all out, and my reward was seeing the walls and towers of Skingrad just up the hill from me. What a welcome sight after fighting off all those imps.

I made it inside just as the sun was disappearing on the horizon, and immediately got lost. First I went to an inn run by an Orc, and was tempted to just call it a night, but I was also curious about what shops were here. So I turned around and went back outside. I ended up finding a general goods store and selling some potions I had made earlier in the day, as well as a few animal pelts and such. I don't even have 100 septims anymore. I'm down to 88, but that's because I had to pay 20 gold for the room I slept in last night. Granted, it was completely worth it. It's the most comfortable bed I've slept in so far.

However, I will need to remedy this lack of extra coin soon, or I won't have enough to sleep anywhere in a few days, let alone buy anymore supplies – like food. For now, though, I'm alright. Really, I need to be focusing on getting to Kvatch, which I should be able to reach by the end of today, hopefully. First though, I need to go buy some more drink. I'm running out and I'll need it for the road.


	4. Chapter 4

1 Heartfire, 3E 433

Evening

So much has happened since I last wrote that I cannot believe it's only been two days. I don't even know where to start. I hardly remember my trip to Kvatch, other than that it was most likely uneventful. As I approached the town, I saw a man zooming towards me, and I assumed he was a bandit or something, so I crouched down and got off the road. But when he went right past me, I realized he was running away from something.

Immediately, I knew something bad had happened so I stopped him to ask what had happened. I couldn't get anything very coherent out of him. All he said was something about fire, and everyone being dead and the town being destroyed. Afterwards, he just kept running down the road, screaming about how all was lost. At this point, I was very concerned and confused, and made it as quickly as I could to the town. But when I arrived, there didn't seem to be a town.

Most of the townsfolk were huddled up in a camp far from Kvatch itself. I got about as much information out of them as I did the man who had run down the road. They all spoke of destruction, and Daedra pouring from some sort of gate. Quickly, I made my way up to the town proper, and saw the gate for myself. A huge red fiery thing that poured monstrous creatures from its mouth. They were everywhere, and they were attacking all the guardsmen who were trying to hold them off. I found the one in charge, Savlian Matius, and told him I would do what I could to help.

Well, that ended up meaning I was charging through the… Oblivion Gate, is what it's called. Inside… inside was terrible, and frightening. Everything was red and fiery and horrible. I found a soldier, and we worked together to try and shut down the Gate. I nearly died at least a dozen times, and the soldier, whose name I never found out, died while helping me. A lot of soldiers died…

Eventually, I found the big red beacon of fire that was somehow keeping the gate open, and I took the magical spinning orb from its center. Don't ask me how I knew what to do. Something just told me that taking the orb would shut down the Gate, and it did. After I took it, though, everything went blurry and the walls started to cave in. I have no idea how I got back outside. The next thing I knew, I was standing safely with Savlian and the Gate was gone.

Oh… I remember now, the man I had to leave in that cage inside the Oblivion Gate. I tried to get him out, even as he was yelling that there was no time. I tried. But the gate had no door. No lock to pick or smash open. He's dead now. At least, I hope he is. Because if he isn't, that means he is still at the mercy of those creatures in Oblivion. I'm just sorry I couldn't get him out.

I found Martin Septim, inside the Chapel of the Divines. We had to fight through hordes of Daedra to get to him. And at the time, I didn't even realize he was there. I didn't have any time to talk to anyone. We had to immediately go secure the Castle of Kvatch and rescue the Count inside. He, unfortunately, didn't survive. But we cleared all the Daedra from the town and the castle, so now maybe these people can rebuild.

I went back to the refugee camp and found my way to Martin. I explained to him that he is the son of the Emperor. Of course, he doesn't believe me, but I guess he saw the sincerity in my face, because he has agreed to follow me back to Weynon Priory to talk to Jauffre. We didn't leave immediately, though. It had been over 24 hours since I had last had a decent meal to eat and more than a few hours of restless sleep. But, it seemed, more trouble was to find me.

Not an hour into my exhausted sleep at the camp, a man in black robes woke me up and, I must say, scared the shit out of me. I thought he was going to kill me, and I saw a flash of those assassins in red who killed the Emperor. But he let me up and explained himself. His name is Lucien Lachance. He told me he knew I was a murderer, which immediately put me on edge. I do not recall ever killing anyone innocent, unless he's talking about the bandits and creatures I've killed. I told him I was no murderer. He seemed to ignore me and go on to explain that he was with the Dark Brotherhood and that if I was interested in joining them, I could go to some inn somewhere and murder someone as a test.

As you can guess, I kindly told him to shove off and leave me alone. I had a mind to kill him, in fact, but he vanished from my sight within seconds. I'm not sure I'll ever truly feel safe again… Not that I don't already have enough to worry about, what with Daedra pouring into this world and destroying towns. And my armor has gone to crap since my escapade into Oblivion. I don't have anything to repair it with, either, so Martin and I will have to make a few stops in Skingrad on the way to the Priory.

A few words on Martin: He seems genuine, and kind, if quiet. The events of Kvatch have torn his belief in the Gods, which I can completely understand. I only hope he is still strong enough to lead us when the time comes. Whether he likes it or not, he is the only heir left to the throne.


End file.
